Doctors are stepping up their measles vaccination campaign in south Wales,
amid concerns that 40,000 children in the area have still to be inoculated
against the disease.

The number of cases has risen to 693 and a growing number of hospitals are offering free MMR jabs in a bid to bring the epidemic, which is centred around Swansea, under control. More than 1,300 people received the injection at drop-in clinics in south Wales on Saturday.

Dr Meirion Evans of Public Health Wales (PHW) said that the number of cases of the disease could "easily double."

He told the BBC that there were an estimated 40,000 children across Wales who had not been inoculated and that low vaccination rates elsewhere in the UK meant that no part of the country was safe from the outbreak.

Dr Evans, a consultant epidemiologist said the current epidemic was the consequence of a 10 to 15 year "legacy" of concern about the MMR (measles mumps rubella) jab, that followed the now discredited report by Dr Andrew Wakefield in the late 1990s which linked the vaccine with autism.

Many parents did not get their children vaccinated due to the concerns about the safety of MMR that followed Dr Wakefield's report.

He said that, as a result, there were many parts of the country which do not have vaccination rates high enough to stop the spread of measles.

"Across Wales as a whole there are many, many children who have not had their MMR – we estimate over 40,000 children across Wales – so there is a real possibility that it could seed from Swansea to other parts of Wales and potentially take a grip there," he said.

"Nowhere in Wales is safe from measles and I think that is true of the UK as a whole."

He warned that the outbreak could last until the summer holidays as the disease can spread rapidly in schools.

Although the epidemic is based in Swansea, cases continue to be reported across Wales. Officials have raised concerns about the number of cases in Powys.

It comes as the Government dismissed claims by Dr Wakefield that officials were responsible for the current outbreak.

Writing on the US website, Age of Autism, Dr Wakefield, who was struck off over the MMR controversy, blamed the rise in measles in the UK on the Government's decision to withdraw import licences for single vaccines in September 1998, six months after his discredited paper first appeared in medical journal The Lancet and raised concern about the vaccine.

The paper, which has subsequently been retracted by The Lancet, linked the vaccine to an increased risk of bowel disease and autism. Dr Wakefield said he recommended the use of single measles vaccine in preference to MMR.

"This remains my position," he said.

While MMR vaccination uptake fell from February 1998, there was a reciprocal increase in the uptake of the single vaccines, he said.

"Vaccination clinics administered many thousands of doses of measles vaccine and children were 'protected'.

"Six months later, in September 1998, the British Government withdrew the importation licence for the single vaccines, effectively blocking this option for parents.

"Measles cases in the UK rose when the government withdrew the importation licence for the single measles vaccine leaving concerned parents with no choice."

He added: "The government's concern appeared to be to protect the MMR programme over and above the protection of children."

He said two MMR vaccine brands had to be withdrawn for safety reasons.

These had been approved despite warnings of the dangers. "These government officials put price before children's health and have been seeking to cover up this shameful fact ever since."

"Immunisation advice from the department has always kept the interests of patients paramount. Measles is a highly infectious and harmful disease. If your child has not had two doses of MMR, whatever their age, we urge you to contact your GP surgery and make an appointment."

The disease is caused by a virus spread in droplets and is easy to catch by those who have not been vaccinated.

Symptoms include fever, cough, conjunctivitis and a rash. Complications are quite common even in healthy people, and about a fifth of reported cases experience one or more complication. The death rate is around one in every 1,000 infected in developed countries.

Before the introduction of the MMR jab in 1988, about half a million children caught measles each year in the UK. Approximately 100 of those died.